The Grading List

[LozCooper]

Well that was another point I was thinking of making - are you sure that it's cheaper to stay at home and play British events?

For the avoidance of doubt, I did not mean to suggest that anyone should play anywhere, here or abroad, in order to get a dubiously arranged norm. If however, it's a case of the British 2400 being likely to put up more resistance than a French or Italian 2450, then wouldn't that be a acceptable reason for the GM norm seeker to prefer an event abroad?

Finance permitting then the more countries you can travel to the better. I do think it's cheaper to play in opens abroad than maybe play the British but if you are looking to play at something like First Saturday then the entry fees will make the overall cost higher than an equivalent event in England.

[Paul Sanders]

Finance permitting then the more countries you can travel to the better. I do think it's cheaper to play in opens abroad than maybe play the British but if you are looking to play at something like First Saturday then the entry fees will make the overall cost higher than an equivalent event in England.

Cost per game times rating of opponent is the key if you are looking to move up the rankings. An overseas tournament might deliver 9 rounds at 2000 and above, while a UK Open 7 rounder might only deliver 4 or 5 games at that strength.

This translates into a £££ per potential FIDE point gained - which is a miserable way to look at chess, but sadly absolutely essential if you are on a budget. Even with the high entry fees, an all-play-all might deliver better value than an Open.

[Leonard Barden]

Finance permitting then the more countries you can travel to the better. I do think it's cheaper to play in opens abroad than maybe play the British but if you are looking to play at something like First Saturday then the entry fees will make the overall cost higher than an equivalent event in England.

Cost per game times rating of opponent is the key if you are looking to move up the rankings. An overseas tournament might deliver 9 rounds at 2000 and above, while a UK Open 7 rounder might only deliver 4 or 5 games at that strength.

This translates into a £££ per potential FIDE point gained - which is a miserable way to look at chess, but sadly absolutely essential if you are on a budget. Even with the high entry fees, an all-play-all might deliver better value than an Open.

Have you considered arranging a match between Isaac and a UK player 2200-2300?
There should be people around who would take this on for a fee.
Matches are Fide-rateable except for games played after one side has a winning lead, and you could play two or even three games a day. Since Isaac's problem appears to be that his strength is around 100 points above his rating, that would seem the most cost-efficient way of dealing with the problem. I recall suggesting the same to the Howell family a decade ago when David had the same problem.

[Paul Sanders]

Have you considered arranging a match between Isaac and a UK player 2200-2300?
There should be people around who would take this on for a fee.

I had not. Many thanks for the suggestion!

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Have you considered arranging a match between Isaac and a UK player 2200-2300?
There should be people around who would take this on for a fee.

I hadn't realised that this is one of the reasons for such matches to be arranged (the main reason presumably being for the games to serve as training material). Do such matches have to be played under the auspicecs of an International Arbiter?

[Sean Hewitt]

Have you considered arranging a match between Isaac and a UK player 2200-2300?
There should be people around who would take this on for a fee.

Sounds like selling rating points!

[LozCooper]

Have you considered arranging a match between Isaac and a UK player 2200-2300?
There should be people around who would take this on for a fee.

Sounds like selling rating points!

My thoughts exactly!

[Paul Sanders]

To be clear, it was not I who made that suggestion. And I would hope that if by any chance Isaac was playing such a match his opponent would try his hardest to give Isaac a pasting, as the point for him and for me is to try to improve, not to buy points.

[Sean Hewitt]

To be clear, it was not I who made that suggestion. And I would hope that if by any chance Isaac was playing such a match his opponent would try his hardest to give Isaac a pasting, as the point for him and for me is to try to improve, not to buy points.

Indeed. My point was that in a match between two players of, say, 2200 strength where one is rated 2200 and one is rated considerably less then (assuming both players play to their level) the outcome will be a transfer of rating points from the former to the latter.

[Leonard Barden]

To be clear, it was not I who made that suggestion. And I would hope that if by any chance Isaac was playing such a match his opponent would try his hardest to give Isaac a pasting, as the point for him and for me is to try to improve, not to buy points.

Indeed. My point was that in a match between two players of, say, 2200 strength where one is rated 2200 and one is rated considerably less then (assuming both players play to their level) the outcome will be a transfer of rating points from the former to the latter.

....which is no more 'selling rating points' than if the same process happens in a single game of a tournament. In practice there might well be strong players in the London area who would be interested in playing a match with a bright talent and possible future IM or GM without significant financial inducement.

[LozCooper]

To be clear, it was not I who made that suggestion. And I would hope that if by any chance Isaac was playing such a match his opponent would try his hardest to give Isaac a pasting, as the point for him and for me is to try to improve, not to buy points.

Indeed. My point was that in a match between two players of, say, 2200 strength where one is rated 2200 and one is rated considerably less then (assuming both players play to their level) the outcome will be a transfer of rating points from the former to the latter.

....which is no more 'selling rating points' than if the same process happens in a single game of a tournament. In practice there might well be strong players in the London area who would be interested in playing a match with a bright talent and possible future IM or GM without significant financial inducement.

I think there's far more chance of getting a higher rated or titled player to play a match with an underrared junior if it wasn't FIDE rated. Similarly any tournaments that have 50% juniors and 50% titled players would be more appealing if it was unrated.

[David Sedgwick]

Do such matches have to be played under the auspices of an International Arbiter?

In my not entirely disinterested opinion, it's certainly desirable for an arbiter to be present.

On the issue of "selling rating points", there is of course a difference between a situation where the higher rated player is trying as hard as he can against the underrated junior and a situation where, for whatever reason, he seems to be losing without apparent effort.

The presence of an arbiter may help to corroborate that it is the former situation which applies.